


Nightmares

by Avasti



Series: Music Prompts: Persona 5 [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Absent Parents, Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Child Abuse, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, M/M, Rape/Non-con Elements, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:46:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23483302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avasti/pseuds/Avasti
Summary: I had a brilliant thought last night to write songs depending on what came up on my Spotify. The first was Nightmares by All Time Low.Akira is in his hometown, with his step-dad and mother. He's about to return to the city after graduating high school (so he is 18+) to go to college. (NG+ because that’s just easier)He gets abused by his step-dad while on a skype call with Iwai. Attempted Rape!! No actual rape!!Please read the tags and if I missed any tell me asap and I'll add them! Thanks! I hope you enjoy?concrit always welcome
Relationships: Iwai Munehisa/Kurusu Akira
Series: Music Prompts: Persona 5 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1707226
Comments: 2
Kudos: 84





	Nightmares

Akira shut the door to his room quietly. His step-father finally passed out on the couch and his mother was out, probably drinking. If he played his cards right, neither would remember he existed. He patted Morgana’s head as he walked to the mattress on the ground that acted as his bed.

Mona huffed at him, “I don’t know why you still live here. Your parents-”

Akira silenced him with a glare as he opened his laptop to Iwai’s waiting face. He grinned as his webcam caught up,

“Thank god Kaoru finally got you hooked up. I was getting sick of not seeing you.”

Iwai rolled his eyes and started talking, but no sound came through. Akira smiled fondly and interrupted what was no doubt a well planned comeback,

“No sound, Mune-san. Un-mute.” He watched the man search the screen, “The little microphone. Probably has a slash through it?”

“-this damn, newfangled thing.”

Akira laughed, “That damn newfangled thing lets you see me, Iwai. We both know how pissy you can be when you don’t get-”

“Yeah, yeah.” Iwai settled back on his chair. He was still in Untouchable, “It’s good to see you, Akira. When are you returning to the city?”

“In twenty three days. I already sent Sojiro my stuff, so all that’s left to move is me, Morgana, and a few odds and ends.” Akira watched the man before him shamelessly, smiling as Iwai picked up a gun and started polishing it, “and, If you’ll let me, I’d like to work for you again?”

“Kid, I can’t afford you as a part-timer.”

“A booty-call, then.”

Iwai spluttered, glaring at the young man across the screen, whose cool venier never seemed to fade. The sound of a bottle breaking subsequently broke Akira’s composure, eyes widening as panic replaced blood. His father was awake. Iwai was somehow unaware, blathering on about Akira needing to find a younger, more well-fit man. 

Fear tinted his voice as he spoke, far too loudly, “Iwai, shut up!” and immediately silenced his computer as the door to his room flung open. Morgana buried himself under the dresser in the corner and Akira sat, back ram-rod straight, watching his incredibly intoxicated father stumble in.

“Where’s Akane?” his voice was slurred and Akira could smell the stench of alcohol from his seat on the bed

“I dunno. I think she’s out, dad.”

“Excuse you?”

“Sorry, Mason.”

“Bullshit.”

Without meaning to, he flinched, “I think she’s with her friends. Di-dinner is in the fridge.” He silently cursed himself for stuttering. Show no weakness. No disrespect. No reason for the man to stay.

Tonight, luck was not on his side. Mason stepped closer with meaning and grabbed a handful of his step-son’s hair, pulling him to a half-kneeling, half-standing position. Akira made no sound, attempted to breathe steadily through his nose and watch the heavily bloodshot eyes of his aggressor.

“Ungrateful little swine. Shoulda just sent you to jail. Shido had the right idea. It was all your whore mother’s plan to send you to the city.”

Akira bore his teeth, “Don’t talk about her like that.”

“She ain’t here to protect you now, shit-stain.” with strength only a drunk man possesses, he threw Akira into the wall. He only just managed to avoid hitting his head when his father pounced. 

He clamped one strong clammy hand around Akira’s throat and the other worked away his clothing, ripping at the buttons of his shirt and pants. Akira squirmed under him, attempting to get his legs between them, kick him, to push him off, anything.

Mason dug his fingers into the soft flesh of Akira’s throat and slammed his head against the wall, over, and over, and over until the teen faltered in his struggle. His body was desperately reaching for air, attempting to expand his chest and draw it in. His fingers uselessly scratched at the larger man’s hand and his vision started to fade when the vice like grip was removed and air rushed back into Akira’s lungs.

“Little cock slut like you probably enjoyed that.” He laughed like it was a joke shared between good friends over a fire and a beer. His hand closed around Akira’s neck again while the other worked at his own pants.

Akira was bleeding. He could feel hot blood leaking down the back of his tee, but he didn’t care yet. He had to get out. Discreetly as possible he felt around behind him. On Morgana’s insistence, he kept a model gun between his bed and the wall. ‘Just in case’. He’d have to buy Morgana sushi when they got to the city. His hand closed around the cool metal and he lifted it, pressing the barrel to the other man’s temple.

Akira could feel Arsene’s anger within him. Doubtless stirred by the injustice, and wished for a moment the gun was real. He could face the consequences of killing this man. He had enough evidence to keep himself out of jail. 

Too drunk (thankfully) to realize it was just a high quality model gun, Mason scrambled off Akira. Seeing the madness reflected in the younger man’s eyes, he held his hands up, babbling and crying and making absolutely no sense as the teen secured his jeans and grabbed his bag, roughly shoving his still open laptop into it. He backed towards the door, holding the gun steady. Morgana climbed onto his shoulder as they reached the entrance and Akira threw the door open, running blindly into the night.

Joker and Arsene helped him get out, but as the cool adrenaline of his persona drained from him, he was just Akira again. Scared and powerless and hurt. He had Morgana, but beyond that, he was alone here. He couldn’t stop the tears. He ran until he stopped crying. Which only happened because he couldn’t breathe. He collapsed on a bench and shook, gratefully holding Morgana until his veins stopped pumping battery acid. 

He swiped at his eyes and looked down at his friend, “Thanks. That…” his eyes widened in horror and he pulled his laptop out of the bag. It was disconnected from wifi, but the last screen was of an empty seat in a dark shop.

“Oh fuck. Oh, fuck. Oh no, no no no no, Mona, what if- shit. Oh god, Mona I pulled a gun- no fuck what if Iwai goes to the house.” He dropped his bag and laptop onto the grass and started pacing, his breath climbing to hyperventilation.

Morgana stood and yowled, “Akira! Hey, Akira! JOKER!!” Akira stopped his pacing and looked at him, “You still have your phone. Call him?”

“Call… Yeah, call. I’ll call him.” 

Akira closed his laptop and stuffed it in the bag, digging through the contents until his fingers wrapped around his phone. He pulled it out and noticed his many many missed calls. Ignoring them, he selected Iwai’s face and dialed.

It only rang once

“Akira?? Kid, jesus fucking christ, tell me you’re safe.”

“Yeah, I uh… Yeah. I’m at Gateway Park… d’ya think…” He cut himself off. The weight of the situation threatened to crumble him and he could feel hot tears streaming down his cheeks. His vision was growing dark around the edges and he remembered the head wound with sudden painful clarity, “Iwai, I think I need a doctor.”

“I’m almost there. Five minutes.”

“You already have the map…?”

He heard Kaoru’s voice from the passenger of the car, “Hang in there Akira!”

Fatigue was catching up to him fast, his legs felt like thin strings of jelly and his eyes felt weighed down by bricks. He aimed to plop himself on the park bench, but missed by nearly a foot and fell to the ground. His complete lack of coordination plus the sudden collapse caused his phone to fall from his hands and a fresh crack of pain to soar through his skull.

He could hear voices from the small speakers on the device, but he was already laying down. The grass was cool and soft on his burning skin and it felt so nice to just lay there. His eyes drooped and finally closed against the dark night.

……

Sterile. Starched sheets. Bright light. Leather. Oil? He frowned and immediately regretted it, opening his eyes with a soft gasp of pain. Takemi’s office seemed unnaturally bright. This test definitely brought him to his breaking point. Everything hurt. His throat was raw and his entire head throbbed, he felt as if he’d just had his ass handed to him by a group of shadows.

He scanned the room but Tae wasn’t there. She usually waited for him. Maybe he was out longer than she’d anticipated. He tried to get up, but was startled back down when a machine attached to his arm started beeping loudly in alarm.

Tae, Iwai, and Sojiro burst into the room. Takemi was immediately at his side, soothing him back into position and checking his vitals. 

It all came back in a humiliating flood of memories.

Of course.

Mason.

He looked at Iwai. The man seemed both younger and older. In a ‘terrified lover’ sort of way, not an ‘old man’ sort of way. There were dark circles under his eyes and his hat and jacket were gone, showing off his close cropped hair and the lean muscled contour of his torso. Akira much preferred the man without his jacket. Without any clothes, in fact.

“Gentlemen, could you wait in the lobby please. It seems your presence is causing Akira… distress.” There was a knowing lilt in Takemi’s voice that had Akira blushing as Sojiro and Iwai left the room.

“Good to see you awake.” she rested a gentle hand on his arm, the worried lines around her eyes betraying her usual attempt at apathy

“How much did he tell you?”

“Enough. Your head slammed against the wall, and nearly choked to death. Then your collapse near a park bench.” she worked as she spoke, expertly replacing bandages and applying medicines

“Anything else?” He shifted a little to allow her a better reach to apply a bandage around his arm, which he had apparently gashed open at some point

“Iwai said it was not his tale to tell.”

Akira felt the burn of tears as a surge of gratitude threatened to overwhelm him, “You..” He cleared his throat, willing the tears to go away, “You’re-’ He looked away. He couldn’t do it. Emotions were attempting to force their way through and his voice wavered as a clear tell of his struggle.

Somehow she seemed to know what he needed, “I am not a licensed therapist, but I am a friend and a confidant. I will think no less of you, no matter the story, should you choose to tell it.”

Akira trusted her. He told her everything. 

An hour later Takemi finally agreed to send him in Sojiro’s care. The man could pretend he didn’t give a damn, but the troubled rake of his fingers through thinning hair and the constant worried looks he threw Akira’s way told another story. Iwai also came. He took the task of carrying Akira, like a princess, up to his room in LeBlanc. 

Akira held tight, even when laid down.

“Please don’t go.” his voice was small. Pathetic. 

And it broke Iwai’s heart.

“I’ll stay as long as you need me.”

He carefully laid next to the young man, avoiding jostling him as much as possible. Akira ignored all precaution and practically climbed onto Iwai’s lap, curling up into a fetal position and burying his face in Iwai’s neck.

Iwai stroked his back, talking about absolutely nothing simply because it seemed to calm him down. He didn’t stop when Akira fell asleep, only when he himself fell asleep. 

….

Lavenza sat perched on Igor’s desk as Joker stepped out of his cell, flanked by Arsene. It felt good to have the comforting weight of his mask. Arsene’s calming presence brought him back to his thieving days. He missed it.

Lavenza stood, smiling, “Hello.”

“The velvet room… I thought I wouldn’t be able to return?”

Her expression darkened slightly, “Unfortunately, your tasks are not complete. The world is rife with people needing change, and you just experienced one first-hand. Again.”

Ah. So the mad surge of violence accompanied by the feeling of Arsene at his back wasn’t a hallucination. Good to know.

“Will everyone else…? My friends?”

“Yes. they will have felt the same urges you did. You are their leader, after all.”

“But mementos. I thought we stopped… Mona said that palaces didn’t used to exist?”

“Indeed not. However with the revelation of the Phantom Thieves and the stir you caused… Similar in the way that you and your friends believed in Morgana. The human mind is capable of many things. Including distorting reality to bring you back. Perhaps they missed you?”

He looked down at his boots, lost in thought.

Lavenza opened her book, “Our time here is almost done. Return to your friends, trickster.”

She might have thought he was indifferent, if she hadn’t seen the grin that split his face.

….

Despite the traumatic event, Akira slept soundly through the night. Waking in the morning, hale and hearty, stretching as languidly as his cat and climbing over Iwai to get closer to the scent of Curry. Iwai coiled his arms around the younger man and gently kissed his neck.

“Good morning.”

There was a grin to Akira’s voice when he responded, “Morning, Mune.”

“You slept remarkably well for-” His eyes widened. Maybe reminding Akira of his abuse wasn’t the best thing to wake him to, but of course, he just laughed.

“I did. I have the best therapeutic source.”

“Oh?” Iwai sat up on the small futon, gently repositioning Akira to stay curled up on his lap.

“Yes. When I sleep I have Lavenza and Arsene. When I wake, I have you.” He gave Iwai a sweet smile, “Thank you Iwai.”

As endearing as that was, Iwai had no idea who or what Lavenza and Arsene were, but if they helped… well, he really couldn’t deny his Phantom Thief anything,

“I’ll always be here for you.”

“Even if I put myself in danger again?”

“You’re-?”

“We’re back in business.”


End file.
